DonateMy Utmost for His Highest for Wednesday, 19 July 2017 "Mastery Over The Believer" by Oswald Chambers
Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. [John 13:13]
Our Lord never insists on having authority; He never says — “Thou shalt.” He leaves us perfectly free — so free that we can spit in His face, as men did; so free that we can put Him to death, as men did; and He will never say a word. But when His life has been created in me by His Redemption I instantly recognise His right to absolute authority over me. It is a moral domination — “Thou art worthy.…” It is only the unworthy in me that refuses to bow down to the worthy. If when I meet a man who is more holy than myself, I do not recognise his worthiness and obey what comes through him, it is a revelation of the unworthy in me. God educates us by means of people who are a little better than we are, not intellectually but “holily,” until we get under the domination of the Lord Himself, and then the whole attitude of the life is one of obedience to Him.
If Our Lord insisted upon obedience He would become a taskmaster, and He would cease to have any authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we do see Him we obey Him instantly. He is easily Lord, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The revelation of my growth in grace is the way in which I look upon obedience. We have to rescue the word “obedience” from the mire. Obedience is only possible between equals. It is the relationship between father and son, not between master and servant. “I and My Father are one.” “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.” The Son’s obedience was as Redeemer, because He was Son, not in order to be Son.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. [Not Knowing Whither]
Bible in One Year: Psalms 23-25; Acts 21:18-40Psalms 23:1 (0) A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
2 He has me lie down in grassy pastures,
he leads me by quiet water,
3 he restores my inner person.
He guides me in right paths
for the sake of his own name.
4 Even if I pass through death-dark ravines,
I will fear no disaster; for you are with me;
your rod and staff reassure me.
5 You prepare a table for me,
even as my enemies watch;
you anoint my head with oil
from an overflowing cup.
6 Goodness and grace will pursue me
every day of my life;
and I will live in the house of Adonai
for years and years to come.
24 (0) By David. A psalm:
(1) The earth is Adonai’s, with all that is in it,
the world and those who live there;
2 for he set its foundations on the seas
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who may go up to the mountain of Adonai?
Who can stand in his holy place?
4 Those with clean hands and pure hearts,
who don’t make vanities the purpose of their lives
or swear oaths just to deceive.
5 They will receive a blessing from Adonai
and justice from God, who saves them.
6 Such is the character of those who seek him,
of Ya‘akov, who seeks your face. (Selah)
7 Lift up your heads, you gates!
Lift them up, everlasting doors,
so that the glorious king can enter!
8 Who is he, this glorious king?
Adonai, strong and mighty,
Adonai, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates!
Lift them up, everlasting doors,
so that the glorious king can enter!
10 Who is he, this glorious king?
Adonai-Tzva’ot —
he is the glorious king. (Selah)
25:1 (0) By David:
(1) I lift my inner being to you, Adonai;
2 I trust you, my God.
Don’t let me be disgraced,
don’t let my enemies gloat over me.
3 No one waiting for you will be disgraced;
disgrace awaits those who break faith for no reason.
4 Make me know your ways, Adonai,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth, and teach me;
for you are the God who saves me,
my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember your compassion and grace, Adonai;
for these are ages old.
7 Don’t remember my youthful sins or transgressions;
but remember me according to your grace
for the sake of your goodness, Adonai.
8 Adonai is good, and he is fair;
this is why he teaches sinners the way [to live],
9 leads the humble to do what is right
and teaches the humble [to live] his way.
10 All Adonai’s paths are grace and truth
to those who keep his covenant and instructions.
11 For the sake of your name, Adonai,
forgive my wickedness, great though it is.
12 Who is the person who fears Adonai?
He will teach him the way to choose.
13 He will remain prosperous,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
14 Adonai relates intimately with those who fear him;
he makes them know his covenant.
15 My eyes are always directed toward Adonai,
for he will free my feet from the net.
16 Turn to me, and show me your favor;
for I am alone and oppressed.
17 The troubles of my heart are growing and growing;
bring me out of my distress.
18 See my affliction and suffering,
and take all my sins away.
19 Consider my enemies, how many there are
and how cruelly they hate me.
20 Protect me and rescue me;
don’t let me be disgraced,
for I take refuge in you.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
because my hope is in you.
22 God! Redeem Isra’el
from all their troubles!
Acts 21:18 The next day Sha’ul and the rest of us went in to Ya‘akov, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, Sha’ul described in detail each of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts.
20 On hearing it, they praised God; but they also said to him, “You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Judeans, and they are all zealots for the Torah. 21 Now what they have been told about you is that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Goyim to apostatize from Moshe, telling them not to have a b’rit-milah for their sons and not to follow the traditions.
22 “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. 24 Take them with you, be purified with them, and pay the expenses connected with having their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to these rumors which they have heard about you; but that, on the contrary, you yourself stay in line and keep the Torah.
25 “However, in regard to the Goyim who have come to trust in Yeshua, we all joined in writing them a letter with our decision that they should abstain from what had been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled and from fornication.”
26 The next day Sha’ul took the men, purified himself along with them and entered the Temple to give notice of when the period of purification would be finished and the offering would have to be made for each of them. 27 The seven days were almost up when some unbelieving Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the Temple, stirred up all the crowd and grabbed him. 28 “Men of Isra’el, help!” they shouted. “This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone things against the people, against the Torah and against this place! And now he has even brought some Goyim into the Temple and defiled this holy place!” 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus from Ephesus in the city with him and assumed that Sha’ul had brought him into the Temple.)
30 The whole city was aroused, and people came running from all over. They seized Sha’ul and dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 But while they were attempting to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman battalion that all Yerushalayim was in turmoil. 32 Immediately he took officers and soldiers and charged down upon them. As soon as they saw the commander, they quit beating Sha’ul.
33 Then the commander came up, arrested him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Everyone in the crowd shouted something different; so, since he couldn’t find out what had happened because of the uproar, he ordered him brought to the barracks. 35 When Sha’ul got to the steps, he actually had to be carried by the soldiers, because the mob was so wild — 36 the crowd kept following and screaming, “Kill him!”
37 As Sha’ul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “Is it all right if I say something to you?” The commander said, “You know Greek! 38 Say, aren’t you that Egyptian who tried to start a revolution a while back, and led four thousand armed terrorists out into the desert?” 39 Sha’ul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; and I ask your permission to let me speak to the people.”
40 Having received permission, Sha’ul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When they finally became still, he addressed them in Hebrew:
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